Some Things Left Unsaid
by Stone-Free
Summary: She caught him staring again and this time, he did not even attempt to hide that he was.


**Disclaimer **I don't own Prince of Tennis.

Written for a Kris Kringle event.

**Some Things Unsaid**

Sakuno Ryuuzaki tried her best to concentrate on her workbook. There were so many articles to read, so many exercises to answer and one lousy grade to pull up. She just did not have the time to be distracted, especially by something so trivial. But Sakuno could not just ignore the awkward feeling that someone was staring at her. She sort of sensed who he was, too - which made matters worse, as she found herself becoming even more self-conscious than normal. He just had that kind of effect on her.

But why was he looking at her in the first place, anyway? Casually, Sakuno raised a hand to her cheek, lightly touching a portion of her face. She didn't have any dirt on her, did she?

Unable to stop herself, Sakuno looked up from her workbook and twisted her neck to her right. She was greeted by the startled expression from Ryoma Echizen's face, a sort of deer-caught-in-headlights look, though it didn't really last long as Ryoma seemed to have gotten his composure back right away and reverted to his usual mask of neutrality.

They stared at each other for a bit before Ryoma cleared his throat and asked in his usual flat tone,"Yes, Ryuuzaki? Do you need anything?"

Truth be told, Sakuno really wanted to ask him outright why he had been staring at her, even though he was pretending that it was the other way around. But at the same time, she didn't want to come off as presumptuous. After all, there was still that possibility that he might have been staring at something else and that the feeling she had earlier was nothing but a product of her overly active imagination. Saving herself from any possible embarrassment, Sakuno decided to lie.

"Um...can I borrow your pencil sharpener, Ryoma-kun?" she smiled sheepishly. "I forgot mine at home."

"I see." Looking away, Ryoma picked up his pencil sharpener and hurriedly placed it on Sakuno's desk without so much as a glance. "Here." Then, he went back to reading his workbook as if he had been doing the said activity the entire time.

"Uh...thanks?" Sakuno mumbled before standing up and going to the sole trash can inside their classroom. As she sharpened her pencil, Sakuno thought about Ryoma's behaviour and found herself wondering if something was up with the Tennis Prince.

Silently, she walked back to her desk and placed the pencil sharpener on Ryoma's table. "Here's your sharpener, Ryoma-kun. Thanks again."

Ryoma merely responded with a nod as he busied himself with answering the items on his book.

Sakuno continued to watch him, and as she did, she began to form an opinion that Ryoma was indeed not in his usual self. How she wished she could get into the bottom of his odd behaviour though. Maybe, she could ask him right then...

But as she opened her mouth to speak, Ryoma, as if sensing her eyes on him, suddenly turned to her and by instinct, Sakuno looked away and focused her attention on anything but him. Realizing what she just did, Sakuno groaned inwardly, frustrated at herself for chickening out at the last second.

For the next few minutes, Sakuno did her best to take Ryoma off her mind by giving her full attention on the questions on her book. Sadly, her best was not good enough and moments later, she found herself throwing a sneaky glance towards his direction - just about the same time he moved to face her.

Talk about his great sense in timing - or her terrible sense of it.

And so for the second time, they held each other's glances just as an awkward silence passed by between them. Finally, this silence was broken as they both spoke:

"Yes, Ryuuzaki?"

"Yes, Ryoma-kun?"

Sakuno shook her head. "Nothing," she replied at the same time he did. Sakuno furrowed her brow while Ryoma narrowed his eyes.

And then things became uncomfortable again.

"I..." Ryoma started to say as Sakuno looked on curiously. "I...I'm going to read my book now."

Sakuno nodded. "Ah...me too."

Hastily, they both turned away from each other and returned their full attention on their respective workbooks.

They didn't glance at each other again for the rest of the class period.

* * *

The next day did not get any better.

She caught him staring again and this time, he did not even attempt to hide that he was.

"Um..what is it, Ryoma-kun?"

"The weather", he began to say, "Looks really nice today."

Sakuno made a quick glance outside the classroom window. "Indeed, it is." she said before turning back to Ryoma She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to say more, and he seemingly looked like he wanted to say something else. But in the end, he simply averted his eyes back to the blackboard in front, and Sakuno wondered what was the point of that short exchange.

* * *

When Sakuno turned fifteen, her social life changed a bit. For some reason, boys began to notice her existence and strangely, these were the same guys whom she had known since her middle school days; the very same guys who didn't even give her as much as a second look before. Sakuno wondered what had changed and why she suddenly became part of their social radar. Personally, she felt that she was still the same Sakuno from three years ago: A little taller probably, less clumsier, too, but her sense of direction was still awful and she was still prone to occasional social blunders. Why they were suddenly paying her this sort of attention was something she could not get.

One time, a boy named Koichi from the other class asked her to hang out with him during the weekend. It was the first time she had been asked out on a date, and while the experience was flattering, she politely declined, saying that she had tennis tutorials during Saturdays and Sundays. It was_ strictly_ imperative for her not to miss any of it if she wanted to improve her game. But despite knowing this, Koichi tried asking her out again.

"What do you say, Sakuno-chan? I've got some tickets for the Perfume concert this Sunday," Koichi said as he leaned forward, resting his arms on top of Sakuno's desk. "I heard from Osakada that you like Perfume."

"Thanks for the offer, Koichi-kun, but I can't."

Koichi frowned. "Why not? Your tennis tutorial ends in the afternoon right? You still have time to prepare for the concert. The doors don't open until seven-thirty anyway."

"Ano..."

Before Sakuno could continue, a loud slam was heard on the desk right next to hers. Both Sakuno and Koichi looked at the source of the sound and found themselves looking at Ryoma's blank expression.

"There was a bug on my desk," the Tennis Prince stated casually before either of the two could ask him about what happened.

"A bug?" Sakuno repeated while her eyes searched the things on top of Ryoma's desk. "Where?"

Ryoma lifted the book off his desk and shrugged. "Looks like it's gone now." After saying this, he opened the book and began reading. Sakuno gave him a quizzical stare for a few seconds before giving her attention back to Koichi.

"Koichi-kun, I'm really sorry, but I have a lot of things to do this Sunday." She smiled apologetically. "I hope you understand."

Though clearly disappointed, Koichi returned her smile. "That's okay," he said as he straightened himself up. "My sense of timing is probably just bad," he laughed. "Well, I need to head back to my class now. I'll see you around, Sakuno-chan."

Silently, Sakuno watched as Koichi walked towards the door and out of the classroom. But before the boy was a fully out of her vision, Sakuno heard a low chuckle from Ryoma and she couldn't help but look at him.

Ryoma, as if he knew she was staring, cleared his throat and looked up to face her. "This book," he said in his usual monotone, "...is amusing."

Sakuno's reply was a mere 'Oh.' And then, Ryoma, with a tiny smirk suddenly appearing on his face, went back to reading, leaving Sakuno wondering as to what was so funny about their Science textbook.

* * *

Random was a word you'd rarely ever associate with Ryoma simply because the Tennis Prince was just never the type to do random things and most especially, not the type who'd start random conversations. The past week had been a great exception though, as Sakuno had witnessed Ryoma act in a manner that was way unusual for him.

Today was no different.

"I heard the weather's going to be good again tomorrow," he remarked coolly as he waited for Sakuno to finish tying her shoelaces before they head out to the tennis court for another one of their weekly tennis tutorials.

Sakuno asked herself where this conversation was headed or if it was headed towards anything at all. "Really? That's...nice, Ryoma-kun."

"Ah, yes," Ryoma nodded as he hid his hands inside his shorts pockets and stared at the empty tennis court. "And to think the report a few days ago said that there was supposed to be typhoon coming. I heard it's actually in China right now but it's moving southwest. I forgot the speed. I think it was at 175 kilometers per hour. No wait, that's not it. It's slower than that."

Glancing up at Ryoma, Sakuno furrowed her brow, finding it strange that he was suddenly rambling about the weather. He was never the talkative type, especially about something as trivial as weather forecasts.

("It's probably going to be out of China in three days-")

Sakuno decided that she would definitely asked him later if something was wrong. Maybe there was something she could do to help him.

("Though it might be headed towards Thailand or Malaysia or wherever. ")

Returning her attention to her other shoe, she tried to think of a way to open up the subject to him later without offending him and without making him feel that she was intruding into his business. That was going to be tricky but she'd find a way. Hopefully.

("Actually, I don't know where it's headed. But I don't really care about that because the truth is all I wanted to say is that I think I like you so go out with me?")

After tying her shoelaces, Sakuno stood up from the bleacher and turned towards Ryoma and smiled. "I'm done now, Ryoma-kun. Shall we start?"

Instead of moving towards the tennis court, Ryoma stared at her with a look of disbelief on his face.

Seeing his expression, the smile instantly faded from Sakuno's lips. "What's wrong, Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma narrowed his eyes. "Didn't you hear what I said?"

"About the typhoon in China?" Sakuno asked curiously.

Ryoma shook his head. "No, after that."

"Ah, I'm sorry, Ryoma-kun," Sakuno bowed. "I didn't. I was thinking of something else. What was it anyway?"

Ryoma didn't say anything as Sakuno looked on expectantly. Then, he released a sharp breath. "It wasn't easy for me , you know."

"I don't understand, Ryoma-kun. Tell me again. I promise I'm going to listen more attentively now."

Ryoma paused as if contemplating whether he should tell her again or not. Eventually, he came to a final decision.

"Nah," Ryoma shook his head. "Maybe next time." And then, he released a low chuckle before pulling his cap down to hide his eyes from her view. "Mada mada da ne, Ryuuzaki."

After which, he picked up his tennis gear and strolled towards the tennis court, a disappointed Sakuno following behind.

"Mou, Ryoma-kun!"

**Fin.**


End file.
